All about Microsoft Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, Microsoft 365, Office 2021 and earlier versions.
Finding more SVG or Icons for your Office documents
There are a lot more Office Icon or SVG graphics available than the ones in Microsoft 365, Office 2021 or 2019. Jazz up your documents, emails or presentations with a wider range of graphics than the (overused) ones that come with modern Word, Outlook or PowerPoint. Microsoft 365, Office 2021 and 2019 have Icons which […]
Font embedding problems in Office
Word and PowerPoint have options to embed a font into the document, so why doesn’t it work? In theory you can select the ‘Embed fonts’ option for a document / presentation and all the necessary fonts will be included in the document. That means the fonts will appear, as the doc/slide maker intended, when opened […]
Font Embedding in Microsoft Office
Inside the Microsoft Office (Word and PowerPoint) embedding fonts feature within documents. Font embedding adds the font into the document/presentation file itself so that anyone reading will see the same text as the creator. Normally fonts are installed on the computer and used by whatever programs need them. If the font you want to use […]
Heading fonts in Office, new and old side-by-side comparison
A ‘side by side’ comparison of the current Office default font for headings (Calibri Light) and the new default Aptos Display. Aptos Display has thicker strokes/lines than Calibri Light and is, perhaps, more prominent as a heading font. See the slider below to compare the two heading fonts. See New and old Office font – […]
New and old Office font – side-by-side comparison
Here’s a ‘side by side’ comparison of the current Office default font (Calibri) and the new default Aptos. There’s not a lot of difference between Aptos and Calibri fonts to the unpracticed eye. See the slider below to compare the two. See Heading fonts in Office, new and old side-by-side comparison to compare Aptos Display […]
Is Office 2021 really Microsoft 365 in disguise?
It seems possible that Office 2021 is really installing Microsoft 365 with the license details controlling what features are available. In some cases, it’s an important difference to keep in mind. A few bits of information suggest that there’s more commonality between Office 2021 and Microsoft 365 than you might expect. Microsoft 365 features ‘leaking’ […]
Read Aloud voice changes coming to Word
There are some interesting and useful changes coming to Read Aloud in Microsoft Word. More voices and languages, reading speed and (at last!) text scrolls as it’s being read. The current Read Aloud settings are limited. Review | Read Aloud then click the little ‘cog’ icon. That’s changed in some Insiders Beta releases to this: […]
All the options for Microsoft Office 365 update channels
Here are all the current options for Microsoft Office 365 update channels, in other words how often the software is updated with new or changed features. Microsoft never gets tired of changing the names of the Office software releases or ‘channels’. Even though the channel schedule doesn’t change, Microsoft can’t resist the urge to change […]
Degree symbol ° in Word, Excel and PowerPoint
Type or enter the ° Degree symbol into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Windows / Mac programs generally. Degree ° is a common symbol and should be available in most fonts. If not, try another font or one of the fonts with a very wide range of characters like Arial Unicode MS or Lucida Sans […]
Great Office Autocorrect tips by degrees
Here’s some Office Watch readers suggestions for using Microsoft Office’s Autocorrect with to quickly type common phrases and symbols like the degree sign and temperature. Yehuda Z says: “I use (0) to auto-correct to the symbol for degrees ?. It makes things much easier. I also use ty and tyvm for Thank you! and Thank […]
World Map 🗺 symbol in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
Insert a World Map 🗺 symbol into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. Of course, there are many Earth map images or drawings available on the Internet. There’s also some Microsoft Office Icons that we’ll explain below. We’re mostly talking about the World Map 🗺 symbol […]
Should you trust Microsoft Office Updates?
Should you trust Office patches from Microsoft or not? Is it safe to allow automatic updating of Microsoft Office? Why do buggy patches keep happening? There’s no simple answer. It depends on your level of trust in Microsoft and the amount of time you’re prepared to spend manually checking and installing patches. Office-watch.com has been […]
Show Changes is a wonderful addition to Excel
Excel 365 has a detailed history of workbook changes down to the cell level so users can see what’s changed, when and who did it in Show Changes. Office-Watch.com explains how to use the new feature, some handy tricks plus the inevitable traps and limitations. This is great for collaborative worksheets with many people making […]
New default font, Aptos, in Microsoft 365 and Word
Microsoft has released a new range of fonts called ‘Aptos’ that are the new default fonts in Microsoft 365. Here’s what you need to know about the new fonts. Firstly – as Douglas Adams (much missed) reminded us: DON’T PANIC. Despite what you may have read, your documents should not change before your eyes to […]
Aptos fonts and making a PDF from Office
The new Aptos fonts in Microsoft 365 are installed and licensed in a different way from most fonts. How does that affect making a PDF either saving or printing. Can it be done at all? There are two broad ways to make a PDF file from an Office document. Save As PDF or Print to […]
Add pictures to your Excel PivotTables
Images can now be included in Excel PivotTables which not only makes for better looking PivotTables but more interesting Slicers too. A great contribution from Office Watch reader “AllanC” in New Zealand. With pictures in a PivotTable you can easily make cute slicers like this to show one record (person) at a time Here’s the […]
